30 Min Face Study

I tried using a similar technique to my last attempt trying to create a more painterly feel. This isn't one of my favourite paintings as I feel it lacks detail, but I'm trying to get away from that and focus on how the light is falling on the character. In that way I feel this image has been sucessful.

40 Min Face Study

I enjoy doing these as I feel it really helps me speed up and is a nice break from working on things much more tedious. I decided to try using a more painted style after feedback from my previous face studies saying I use lines that are too hard for the face. I also wanted to try and give the paintings a more authentic feel and I think that painting in this way even though I'm still using photoshop makes the image more appealing. I know I can't make the image seem photorealistic in the time I have but painting in a more aesthetically pleasing way seems to acknowledge this and let me stop worrying about the details.

1 Hour 15 Min Environment Study

I visited Stuttgart in May when I went to FMX and took a few photos of the area which had some fantastic architecture. One place that I particularly liked was the park where Stuttgart Opera House was situated. I did a brief sketch when I was there but I wanted to follow it up with a colour study of the environment. I really enjoyed doing this piece as I don't often get to work on architecture. I also really like the vivid greens in the picture and how this saturated the image making even the water appear green!

Elders House on the Hill

This is my composition and value worksheet for the elders house on the hill in the Cheese Moon story I'm working on. I found it really easy to design once I had the composition but the lighting was hard to get right. I loved working on the clouds and using different marks across the image for different textures, but when I came to take it from black and white into colour I really struggled and could never achieve what I wanted. I definitely think this technique is going to require more practice.

Elders House Design

Some quick thumbnails next to the final design on the right. I really enjoyed creating this as I don't often get to work on architecture and I've had a lot of great feedback!

1 Hour Environment Speed Painting

I really enjoyed doing this and I definitely feel I need to do more. I love the colours I used although I'm not sure the values are quite right.

40 min Face Study

I feel like doing these quick studies is definitely helping with my speed and I'm really starting to get to grips with values and the different contours of the face.

En Plein Air

I've been trying to get back into my traditional painting recently as I don't like doing digital painting out and about on my note, plus I think its a wonderful skill to be able to produce en plain air pieces with a nice traditional feel. Here's one I did over the weekend when I was in Porthmadog, North Wales. It was a lovely warm yet stormy weekend with intermittent showers, but it let up long enough for me to paint this. I still have a long way to go with my traditional painting and I keep forgetting that once the paint is there there is no going back. I think I need more contrast and lighting.

Timmy the T-Rex Poses

He's so cute! I had great fun creating the poses for this little guy. It takes a lot longer colouring each of the poses in Illustrator but it was definitely worth it!

Robinson Crusoe

Heres an image I created using photoshop based on a passage from Robinson Crusoe.

Face Studies Speed Painting

Recently I've been practicing my faces again. I'm definitely out of practice but I feel I'm getting quicker and paying more attention to the values and lighting.